Singapore PM Leads 164-Year-Old Temple’s Reconsecration Ceremony With 40,000 Devotees In Attendance

Built in 1854, the 164-year-old Sri Srinivasa Perumal Temple, one of the oldest temples in Singapore, was reconsecrated yesterday (22 April) in presence of Singapore Prime Minister (PM) Lee Hsien Loong with some 40,000 devotees attending the ceremony, Singapore-based The Straits Times has reported.

Several other ministers from the PM’s cabinet were also present for the ceremony which is held every 12 years where the temple is sanctified and reconsecrated.

The ceremony this year also marked the completion of the temple’s SGD 4.5 million renovation process which had been going on for over a year. The temple, located in Little India, has now been restored to its full glory with the amount having been raised by devotees and temple leadership.

Post renovation, the temple now has more space for devotees to eat and worship with a new multi-purpose facility for meals and religious ceremonies. The temple is significant as it has served as the start point for the annual Thaipusam procession in Singapore.

Minister for Trade and Industry S. Iswaran said, “An occasion like this is also an opportunity to reinforce the multi-racial, multi-religious nature of Singapore. The Prime Minister’s presence here today, having travelled overnight from overseas, is a remarkable validation of the commitment the Government has, that PM Lee also has, to this.”

“Each generation has to look after and enhance what past generations have built in Singapore, and leave Singapore better than they found it,” PM Lee wrote in a post on Facebook marking the temple’s reconsecration.